(Notes of the last Gospel Address given in Freemasons’ Hall, Edinburgh. See Luke 19:37-44, and John 12:44-50.)
THIRTY-SIX years ago this fine Hall, which is to be demolished next week, was taken for Lord’s Day Evening Gospel Services. During these years it has, through the grace of God, been the spiritual birth-place of many hundreds of souls, numbers of whom yet live, happy witnesses of redeeming love, while many have gone to glory.
There is always a special interest attached to the “last” of anything, and the last opportunity has cone for you to hear the gospel in this hall. I see some faces that I have known coming here again and again. You have come unconverted and you have gone unconverted; and, alas, you are here unconverted tonight. Well, do not forget it is the last time you will ever hear the Word of God in this hall. It will be an awful thing if the very stones of which this building is composed should stand in the judgment—and, mark, they could easily do it—and witness against you, “O God, that sinner heard Thy gospel, in the hall which we helped to compose, again and again, but he would not have it.”
You may say, I don’t believe in stones speaking. You should ponder the following quotation from the chapter I have read.
“And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation” (Luke 19:37-44).
If men are unaffected by Christ’s personal glory, “stones will cry out,” the Lord says.
“Poor Jerusalem!” I hear you say. Yes, it was poor Jerusalem then, but tonight I say, “Poor sinner!” If Christ wept over that careless city, what shall be said about thee? Well might we weep over thee! And does He not now say to thee, “If thou hadst known, even thou”? Dear unsaved friend, wilt thou hear His voice tonight? How distinctly personal is the appeal―how individual! It is not “you” and “your,” but “thou” and “thy.”
Blessed Lord! what a heart He had. Never was there a heart like His, never love, never tender consideration like His. It was the last time He paid a visit to preach the gospel to that city. Tonight is the last time, very likely, that He may pass your way.
It is very interesting to compare the Gospels and see what the different evangelists say about a certain scene. Perhaps you have never noticed what they say about His coming into Jerusalem. One Gospel says, “When he was come nigh, all the city was moved” (Matt. 21:10-12). Tonight our hearts say, May God move you unsaved ones, with eternity before you, and still unblessed. The city was moved, and they asked, “Who is this?” and the answer was given, “This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth.”
What, you ask, is all this stir about, in this hall tonight? It is the last time anybody will ever hear about Jesus in this hall. A thousand times you may have heard of Him, and, alas! are not saved yet. You have heard the glad tidings of the blessed Son of God, again and again, from the lips of scores of God’s servants in this hall, but I entreat you to seize this, your last opportunity tonight. You may have trifled with God’s salvation, you may have put it from you, but I beseech you, do not now miss it. You have missed it over and over again, you dear young people; you have put it off, and thought the time would come by and by. God has given you another opportunity tonight. Seize it. I have seen too many people cut off quickly to have any faith in “tomorrow”; it never comes. It is now where you are this night the Lord is offering to you a blessed Saviour; receive Him tonight.
This scene records Christ’s last entry into Jerusalem, and He rode on an ass. Did you ever notice that it was a colt, the foal of an ass, “whereon never man sat.” What is the meaning of that? Would you expect Him to take the second ride on that ass? No, He must be first. Do you remember what happened after men had put Him on a cross and slain Him? Where was He buried? Scripture says, it was a new tomb “wherein never man was laid.” Would you expect Him to take a second place in the tomb? No, He would not take that. If the Scripture had not been careful to say “a tomb wherein never man was laid,” the devil was sharp enough, and his servants wicked enough, to have said that He had been buried beside a prophet, as happened after Elisha died. A man was being carried to burial, but while passing the tomb of Elisha, a company of Moabites was seen approaching, and he was placed in the tomb of Elisha (2 Kings 13:21). He touched the bones of Elisha, and immediately came to life again, and, if God had not been so careful to say “a tomb wherein never man was laid,” it would have been reported that this was what had happened to the Lord Jesus.
It was reported that His disciples had stolen His body, and the Jews paid “large money” to have this report circulated. But they had not stolen His body. His Father stooped down and took Him out of the grave—the expression of His perfect delight in His blessed Son. The sinless Man who had died for sinners like you and me was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. Now, if He would not take a second ride on an ass, nor a second place in a tomb, do you think He will take a second place in your heart? I know there will be a universal answer, No, never. Has He got any place there yet? Fancy a human heart, a heart that is sensible of love, and Christ having no place in it! He must have the first place, and, if there is anything taking that place in your heart, anything that is going to imperil your immortal soul, break from it, flee to Christ, and give Him the first place.
He comes into the city, and the children begin to praise Him. The Pharisees object to this, and the Lord’s answer is, if they hold their peace the stones will cry out. I repeat, and I am serious, it would be a dreadful thing if these silent stones, that form the walls of this building, should hear you cry in the day of judgment, “O God, have mercy on a wretched sinner like me,” and should have to witness against you, “Lord, she despised mercy,” or, “Lord, he despised the call of grace over and over again.” You say, Is it possible? Don’t you give these stones the chance.
We read, “When he came near the city he wept over it.” You say, Has He wept over me? I believe He has. “Strong crying and tears” we read of in the fifth of Hebrews, when, to save sinners, He passed into death, where God forsook Him. He has not only shed tears of tender solicitude over careless sinners, but He has shed His very life-blood. You have only one heart, let Him have it tonight.
If we pass back in the Gospels, we hear His blessed voice saying, on that last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 7:37). But they did not want Him. Do you want Him, or has Satan blinded your eyes? His was a very loving, tender cry that day, but His love has gone far beyond this for you and me. He has absolutely given up His life. If anything will win our hearts it is the knowledge of His love. He knows all the hindrances, and He’ says, “If thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace.” What day? This day of gospel call, gospel privilege, and gospel opportunity, this day, the very last time that He, through me, will ever speak to you from this platform.
But, you say, you will speak elsewhere. Many a man has said, “I will hear thee again of these things,” and has been called into eternity without having any further opportunity of hearing. How will you pass into eternity? The Lord is speaking to you tonight, and He says, “If thou knewest the things that belong unto thy peace.” Peace, peace. What belongs to your peace? How can you have peace without pardon? How can you have pardon without Christ? How can you be right with God unless you are right with His blessed Son? What does God propose? You must not forget that Christ died to make peace, and He is our peace, and He brings you peace, but everything turns on your reception of Christ.
“But now,” He adds, “they are hid from thine eyes.” What did He mean? That what He had designed for their blessing was hid from their eyes. So also wrote the Apostle Paul, “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not” (2 Cor. 4:3, 4). Jesus spoke on earth that day and said, “They are hid from thine eyes.” He speaks from the glory tonight of peace, pardon, and the love of God. Are they hid from your eyes? Anything will do to blind your eyes. It may be a novel, it may be money-making. Satan has a thousand ways of blinding people’s eyes. Christ lingers over you in tender love tonight. Listen to what He says, “If thou knewest.” To whom is he speaking? if you are wise you will say, “He is speaking to me.” See the blessed Son of God that day on the mountain side; see the scalding tears drop from His blessed eyes. There is the sinner’s Friend, and what He was then He is tonight, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
And now follows the warning, “But the days shall come” (see vss. 43, 44). Did all this happen to Jerusalem? Every detail was fulfilled. My dear friends, it might well assure you that every word of God comes true. Why did all that take place?
“Because thou knewest not the day of thy visitation.” They would not listen, would not heed, would not hear His voice. Did the Romans cast a trench about Jerusalem? They did. Did they compass it round? They did. And were her children kept in, and were they laid even with the ground? They were. It is perfectly well known that the Roman general gave the order that the Temple should not be touched, but a drunken soldier threw a lighted torch into the Temple, and the words here prophesied were fulfilled absolutely.
Now then, how are you going to escape from the wrath to come if you make light of God’s Son and God’s salvation? With all the fervency and love of my soul, I say, “Flee from the wrath to come,” and heed God’s warning word.
The Lord is speaking to you tonight in a special way, and I would like you not only to heed His last warning, but receive His gospel. Let us turn to the twelfth chapter of John. You get there the Lord’s very last word of gospel to careless men round about Him (vs. 44). I should like that the very last sounds these old walls shall hear should be the impressive words of grace of the blessed Son of God. The great effort of the devil today is to set Christ aside. God puts Christ to the front, and you and I must also put Him to the front. Christ must be everything to you and me.
He says there: “I am come a light into the world, that he that believeth in me should not abide in darkness.” Where have you been all the days of your life’? In darkness. Why did He come into the world? Hear Him― “I am come a light.” What is coming into the light? You get the knowledge of His love―that you are His and He is yours, and your sins are blotted out in His precious blood. Suppose a man does not receive Christ? Listen: “And if any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” You have heard His words; have you not believed yet? Look at the peril you are in, I entreat you. “I judge him not.” Precious Saviour! He came to save.
But, you say, judgment overcame Jerusalem. Perfectly true. Take care lest you are surrounded on every side by your sins. Listen to His words― “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” Do you believe that? Yes, you say. Are you saved? Well, no. Then you do not believe it. If you are not saved, how can you believe the gospel? Do not deceive yourself.
But He adds: “He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken shall judge him in the last day.” You say, I do not think I am a rejecter. What are you then? If you do not receive Him you really reject Him, and, more, you have thwarted Him of His object. What did He want to do? To save you. How can you receive Him? By believing His word. How can you reject Him? By refusing His words.
I believe, in that day, if you stand before the throne a poor, trembling, guilty, self-condemned, God-condemned sinner, these words of Jesus which you have heard tonight from the nineteenth of Luke and the twelfth of John will rise and condemn you. I believe that then, when you feel you must be judged, and rightly so, you will remember that you were called, invited, wooed, wept over, died for, but that you would not come. You will then have no excuse to make. What did the Son of God come to bring you? Eternal life. The gift of God is eternal life. What are you going to do―receive that gift tonight? Surely you will take it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and eternal life is yours.
W. T. P. W.